Children With Autism: Turning Obsessions Into Growth Opportunities

My son’s latest obsession is a strong desire to meet new dogs. We have a dog. We had two dogs until last May when we had to put down our 15 1/2 year old.

How did that go?

We made sure to include our son when we were putting our dog to sleep. He had known that dog his whole life and we wanted him to not only be able to say goodbye to her properly, but to learn that owning a dog (or most other animals) means having to deal with their death. He did a great job of saying goodbye, and I think he handled it well.

How and when did the new dog obsession begin?

His dog obsession surfaced soon after the death of our old dog. My son got it into his head that he wanted to meet new dogs, all the time.

It started with a neighborhood dog. On the walk to school, he wanted to say “hi” to this one dog, a friendly pit bull. Then, there was another neighborhood dog. Then, another. At home, he began to talk about them and look them up on the Internet (a clear sign of the beginning of an obsession). The next thing I knew, the new obsession was in place. And, a new routine had to develop.

What routine was connected to this new obsession?

Amazingly enough, it was a social routine. My son had to learn a new social skill. He had to learn how to approach strangers and ask them certain questions and not just go up to a strange dog, owner or not, and start to pet it. Plus, he not only had to ask questions, but he had to listen to people.

What questions did he have to learn?

I gave him a script. First, I taught him to ask the person if their dog is friendly.

Second, I insisted he ask the dog owner if it was okay if he pet the dog.

This routine did not develop overnight. Early on, I had to intervene because my son was not listening to the dog owner say when he said, “You shouldn’t pet my dog.” Instead, he was attempting to pet the dog.

Most people were nice to my son, and even enjoyed the attention by this cute kid. I think dog owners in general like it when they and their dog get attention. They like dogs and they like to talk about dogs. Plus, most breeds of dogs are naturally receptive to humans. “Mans best friend!”

Then, my son’s obsession began to really develop.In my next blog, I will go deeper into this latest obsession, and I will explain how I simply LOVE this obsession.

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About kimkaplan

As Kim and her husband cared for their son with autism, Kim was led back into writing. She wrote about her son's journey with autism which includes her son's struggles, the parental learning curve, their good fortunes...and a myriad of missteps. The resulting book "A Parents' Guide to Early Autism Intervention" has helped many parents with young children on the autism spectrum. She followed that book with another autism-related book, "Two Years of Autism Blogs Featured on ModernMom.com." Kim continues to be active in the autism world. She blogs weekly for Modernmom.com as well as her own website. Her screenplay writing has blossomed with the addition of many autistic characters. She was featured on Shannon Penrod's show, "Autism Live." She volunteers and attends conferences as well as helps parents whenever she can.